Closing Time
by Lynx Traveller
Summary: It's always nice to have company when closing up, even when you own a bar on a colony like Starbase Rugby.


Disclaimer: I don't own Beast wars, Hasbro does.

In any case, Please R&R.

I glanced out through the dirty glass of the door at the ill-lit street outside.

Raining as usual.

I sighed, life around here was rarely any better than it was now; an empty bar, dirty glasses waiting to be washed up, the days food waiting to be put out with the garbage.

I heard the door open; I didn't look up from the glass I was polishing.

"Bar's closed."

I glanced up at the bot that had just entered; he was mostly hidden behind a large poncho, but I could tell that he was quite large.

"That's ok, I'm not really thirsty."

I sighed and went back to cleaning up.

The old radio in the corner blared out some old stuff from Earth. Not really my kind of thing, but then I wasn't paying much attention.

"Someone over at the radio station must have a sense of humour."

"Hmm?"

The bot nodded over at the radio; an old one imported from Earth, it was covered in fake wood-grain. One speaker was hanging out by its wires; I couldn't be bothered to fix it until it completely stopped working.

"All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey."

The bot chuckled, "Those Humans eh?"

I nodded.

The bot just went back to staring out the window at the heavy rain.

"So, you just moved here?"  
The bot turned back to me as I put the glass down and reached for another.

"Yeah, I head out to my selection tomorrow."

I nodded, "So, you move here for a reason?"  
"Nah, just a colonist."

The bot turned back to the window

"So, how long you been here?"

 "Moved out here the last time that colonisation was a popular craze, about 5 stellars ago."

The bot shot another glance out the window, it was almost as if he was waiting for something.

"I can't understand why you young people have taken such an interest in colonisation again; most people realised that it was just a fad last time."

The bot chuckled; it was a deep laugh, well practiced.

"I guess we're just impetuous youths who need to find things out on our own."

I put the glass back on the rack; the rest of the work could wait until tomorrow before the patrons started showing up. Not that there were ever many of them.

"So, what'll you have?"  
"Just Radium thanks."

I handed the bot his drink and pulled one for myself before closing the bar down and coming out the front.

"So, you waiting for someone?"  
"Huh? Oh yeah, a friend of mine, but he probably won't be here for a few days yet."

"So, why'd you choose Rugby of all places? Why not Omicron, or Alpha?"  
"Tried Omicron, but it was too rural. Besides, I heard that Rugby served the best radium in the galaxy."

The bot started to reach for his cred pouch to pay for the drink.

"Don't worry about it, it's on the house."

"Thanks."

The rain was increasing, the fog was beginning to roll in.

"Good night for it."  
"Hmm."

"So, what'd you do before you came here?"

I shot a glance at the bot as he emptied his glace and put it down on the counter.

"I used to own a restaurant on Cybertron."  
"Why'd you leave?"  
"Needed a change of scenery. The patronage was good, but most of them were business types; always in a rush, never had the time to sit back and talk."

"So you moved out here for some peace and quiet?"

I nodded, "Got more than I bargained for though."

He chuckled, "Why not move back?"

"I've thought about it often; there's nothing for me here, but every time that I think about it, I just keep thinking about it until I start making excuses to stay."

"I know what you mean."

A huge light appeared outside, briefly outlining the silhouette of the spaceport a few blocks over. Freighters came down all times of the night, but rarely did I see any patronage off them; freighter crew were the few people here who actually had a busy life.

The bot stretched and stood up, "The reason that I left Omicron was because there wasn't anything more there for me. I like you friend, so here's a little advice; stop thinking about leaving and just go. Tomorrow's as good as any time. In fact, pack up your stuff tonight and be as far away as possible by noon tomorrow."

The bot took one final stretch before tightening the hood on his poncho and heading for the door.

Maybe he was right; there was nothing holding me here. It wouldn't even take more than a few hours to get my possessions together and be gone from here.

"I just might do that, thanks. By the way, what's your name?"  
"Just call me X. thanks again for the drink."

  
  



End file.
